Baiting The Trap

"So what is this again?" It looked like brown sludge that twinkled, it had the viscosity of thick mud.

"Blood of the earth god, we went over this, just drink it." Valrym (one of the other val's in my life) was impatiently standing on the other side of the bar, he had affixed the hammer and dagger to himself and left me the sword (after asking insultingly if I knew how to use one).

"What if it kills me?" A serious question for serious people.

"Then you'll be removed from bothering me and I find another one of Valrya's apprentices, look Trezlan, it won't kill you, it will infuse you with the power of the earth god at least temporarily, which will get Valrya out of hiding." We had been having this discussion for about twenty minutes, Valrym was noteably angry with my refusal to just accept his creepy earth blood offering (I'm very cautious when drinking things well aside from liquor, but he didn't at least claim this was some kind of strange new super liquor).  With a heavy sigh I held my nose (doesn't actually work, but you know every once in a while you have to give yourself the illusion) and drank the solution.  It was like being set on fire combined with getting punched in the head (so like a flaming punch to the head), I felt woozy and didn't even notice Valrym behind me, he caught me before I fell and shortly before I passed out I heard him say.

"Well I said it wouldn't kill you, I didn't say it would leave you functional." And with that I drifted off to the land of dreams.  Trap set, the game was a foot.